Graduates should focus on skills acquisition, legislator advises
A Kano state House of Assembly member, Alhaji Salisu Ibrahim, has urged Nigerian graduates to shelve their dream of white-collar jobs and focus on learning skills and trades.
Ibrahim (APC-Doguwa/Tudun Wada), made the disclosure in an interview with journalists on Thursday in Zaria, Kaduna state.
The lawmaker spoke on the sideline of a public lecture organised by Doguwa Local Government Students’ Association (DOLSA) at Ahmadu Bello University, main campus, Samaru, Zaria.
He said: “Sincerely speaking, whoever tells you that there is job out there waiting for you is a lie. When I graduated from university, I had four jobs. I got four offers; I got a teaching appointment with the ministry of education, I got lecturing at college of education, I got personnel status at Public Complaints Commission then I got an offer from Triumph Publishing Company, Kano.
“I decided to drop all the jobs and go to the media. I went there with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English as a proof reader, but I tried to mould myself and move into the mainstream reporting.
“In the reporting aspect, I choose to be a financial journalist, which I headed the desk and moved up to editorial board member before I was moved to commercial manager, then I was called to assist in setting up Daily Trust.”
The lawmaker observed that the dreams of graduates of getting white-collar jobs was not forthcoming, hence the need for them to devise other means of becoming self-employed.
“If you ask them now, they will tell you that I read mass communication, I read business administration, I read pharmacy, I read this or that; I am categorically, saying that the young graduates can do a lot using their skills.
“It doesn’t mean that you must get a job in your field of study. Take for instance, Sam Nda Isaiah is a pharmacist, he read pharmacy from ABU, he had his small pharmacy shop in Kaduna, but he is into journalism and he owns a newspaper,” he added.
Ibrahim observed that no matter the high grades students obtain, it amounts to nothing if a graduate cannot make something with his hand, adding that such a situation would only drag the society backward.
On almajiri menace, the lawmaker said it was a very sensitive issue, especially in the North that needs the support and collaboration of all stakeholders to correct.
